The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recently created a fun activity guide to help children who are stuck at home during nationwide quarantines due to COVID-19 social distancing. While many parents and guardians are adjusting to the changes these quarantines have made towards... View full entry
Archaeologists have unearthed about 70 mammoth-bone structures across Eastern Europe. But this one is the oldest on the Russian plain thought to be made by modern humans. Most of the previously identified structures were small, leading researchers to conclude they were most likely used as winter dwellings on a nearly treeless landscape. But the researchers said this circle was too large for a roof, which might suggest it was used for a different purpose. — NYT
Nicholas St. Fleur provides an update on what scientists and researchers have been learning from a 25,000-year-old mammoth-bone circle, first discovered in 2014, 300 miles south of Moscow. h/t @The Ice Age View full entry
Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports Monday afternoon that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. [...]
“It will come in stages,” he said. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”
— USA Today
While the IOC has not responded directly to veteran member Dick Pound's statement from today, the Committee did signal its commitment to scenario-planning for "changes to the start date of the Games" yesterday amid new outbreaks of COVID-19 in IOC member countries. This development comes only days... View full entry
Previously on Archinect, the 55,000 sf studioMDA-designed Phillips HQ was due to open this May. Located in New York City, the building sits at the corner of 432 Park Avenue, providing a space that will feature private galleries, an auditorium, cafe, and more. To inaugurate the opening day... View full entry
[Gov. Andrew Cuomo] has requested four field hospitals of 250 beds each from the federal government, for a total of 1,000 beds. He is looking at Javits for all of those.
He's also asked for four Army Corps of Engineers temporary hospitals. For those, he's looking at the Javits Center; SUNY Stony Brook; SUNY Old Westbury; and the Westchester County Center, another events venue.
— NY Business Journal
Some members have signed a petition on the worker advocacy platform Coworker.org calling on WeWork to close its 848 locations worldwide. There are more than 300 locations in the United States.
Jill Raney, a Washington-based WeWork member who launched the petition, says the company’s decision to remain open during a public health crisis is “unconscionable.” They said it effectively forces businesses with small margins to choose between wasting money or putting themselves at risk.
— The Washington Post
As the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. increases rapidly, WeWork has remained open even after some members have tested positive for the virus in at least seven of their New York locations as well as in LA and Chicago, according to The Washington Post. Other members have signed an online... View full entry
The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) announced today that it will reschedule its previously cancelled annual conference as an online-only event. SAH’s Seattle 2020 Conference was initially scheduled to take place April 29th through May 3rd in Seattle, but it had to be cancelled as... View full entry
With news of COVID-19 affecting individuals across the globe, hospitals and medical clinics are experiencing a shortage in supplies such as ventilators, respirators, and personal protective equipment (PPE). However, as news of the virus spreads, design professionals are banning together with... View full entry
Global architecture firm Henning Larsen's concept has been selected as the winning design in the international competition for the redevelopment of Cockle Bay Park in central Sydney. Coming in at 73,000 square meters, the project includes 63,000 square meters of tower program that sits upon a... View full entry
As the economic and social fall out from the growing novel coronavirus pandemic continues to take shape, The Architecture Lobby (TAL) has published a letter calling on employers to protect the health and welfare of their workers. The statement, published on the TAL website, implores... View full entry
A temporary field hospital for use by people unable to isolate and recover from COVID-19 in their own homes will be located at a soccer field in Shoreline, a city spokesman said.
The Shoreline Temporary Field Hospital, at 19030 First Ave N.E., will provide up to 200 beds, according to the city’s website. It will house “people exposed to, at risk of exposure, or becoming ill with the novel coronavirus..."
— The Seattle Times
According to The Seattle Times, the hospital will be on a turf soccer field that is on a school district property that is leased to the city. King County is creating temporary field hospitals at a number of locations for people who cannot remain in their homes or do not have a... View full entry
In this rapidly evolving socio-professional landscape, remote work is the talk of the town. In an ongoing survey, Archinect has learned that an estimated 78% of architectural professionals are working from home or have been given the option to work from home during the current COVID-19 outbreak... View full entry
Light, air, and hygiene [...] were the best treatment for tuberculosis at the time.
The design and construction of specialized sanatoria coincided with the advent of Modernism. Architectural elements like flat roofs, terraces and balconies, and white- or light-painted rooms spread across Europe. Not unlike the sanatorium, the new architecture was intended to cure the perceived physical, nervous, and moral ailments brought on by crowded cities.
— CityLab
The collective desire to cure and prevent the seemingly unstoppable tuberculosis epidemic through deliberate design choices had given tremendous momentum to a revolutionary movement in our fairly recent architectural past: Modernism. Staircase inside Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium. Photo courtesy... View full entry
The American Academy in Rome (AAR) has announced that it will be shutting down its campus in Rome in response to the novel coronavirus-19 epidemic. In a letter published to the AAR website, Mark Robbins,AAR President and CEO, writes, “In consideration of the safety of those residing in... View full entry
In 2019, Hangzhou-based One Take Architects completed the Mandala Pop-up Digital Art Museum, which was a temporary structure showcasing an immersive multi-media exhibition inspired by the Himalayan landscape and arts and culture. The architects envisioned the pop-up museum as a utopian, isolated... View full entry